Trails: Slushy, but we still have a solid base.
Like the rest of Door County, Crossroads at Big Creek participates in Door County Reads. This annual event is sponsored by the Door County Library Foundation, the Friends of Door County Libraries, library staff members, volunteers from community organizations and businesses. And Crossroads is delighted to again host the keynote event. Hundreds of Door County readers have started the year reading The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King. It’s no mystery why this book was selected. It is intriguing, to say the least.
At Crossroads the forest is full of intriguing little mysteries, often with abrupt endings. And some of those abrupt ending involve violence. After the last snowfall, I was observing tracks. (The Beekeepers’ Apprentice is all about being observant.) I found the tracks of a mouse, a tiny four-print pattern zigging and zagging between the trees and then, suddenly, they just stopped.
Careful observation revealed a clue: very faint imprints of wing feathers. And because the snow had started at night and I found the tracks in early morning, I’m thinking the bird was an owl.
But owls are not the only cause of abrupt endings. Often I find small mammal tracks complete with a tail mark and these prints just stop. Shrews! These tiny but voracious hunters are active all winter. They tend to travel along the surface of the snow, and then, for reasons known only to them, they plunge into the snow and burrow for considerable distances.
So some abrupt ending indicate a hunting technique. Others are obituaries written in snow. But sometimes, marks in the snow are a mystery. I remember puzzling over tracks which went in a straight line through a field. A Fox travels in straight line, but that didn’t seem right. Not until I looked up and noticed that I was under an power line did I realize that the “tracks” were made by globs of snow which had dropped from the wire. Obviously, I’m no Sherlock Holmes. But I am in awe of the mind which could made Sherlock Holmes come to life in her books.
Door County will get a chance to meet that author at Door County Reads Keynote Event, scheduled for February 12 at 7:00. The presenter will be Gary Niebuhr, the Library Director for the Village of Greendale in Wisconsin. During the program, Mr. Nieberwill facilitate a Skype interview with “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice” author Laurie R. King. King an American author best known for her detective fiction. Stay to enjoy trivia fun, followed by edible treats.
If we have snow during this crazy winter, the Friends of Crossroads will host the Family Ski and Snowshoe on Sunday afternoon. Participants can borrow equipment between 1:30-3:30 without charge.
